1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a locking assembly for portable firearms such as semiautomatic pistols or automatic machine pistols and, more particularly, to a locking assembly which safely houses the firearm in either a loaded or unloaded status and provides for drawing and automatically loading and cocking the firearm with only the action of the user""s shooting hand.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Locking assemblies for portable firearms are already known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,164. Such an assembly includes a body plate designed to center around the wearer""s hip with openings to accommodate a belt for wearing, and an action locking assembly, which is attached to the body plate and exactly dimensioned for the specific pistol to be secured.
The action locking assembly includes a flat support member, and an action locking arm extending from a first upper end of the support member and a retainer arm extending from a second lower end of the support member. The action locking arm carries an action locking lug. This locking lug is received in the firing chamber and barrel face of a firearm and prevents cartridges from entering the firing chamber. When the firearm is removed from the locking assembly, the firearm is automatically loaded and cocked, ready to shoot.
A drawback of such locking assemblies is that they are made for firearms of only one length. Another drawback is that once the firearm is pulled, it has to be unloaded before it can be put back into the locking assembly. This can create problems when the user must attend to other matters before the firearm can be returned to the locking assembly.
The user may want to lock the firearm such that it can only be taken out of the assembly with a key. However, when suddenly the firearm is needed, it takes too long to unlock the firearm.
It is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.
This object is reached by several improvements, according to the present invention, as follows. First, several mounting positions are provided for the action locking arm. Thus, firearms of different lengths can be locked in the locking assembly.
Second, an elastic band or xe2x80x9cretention loopxe2x80x9d is provided on the locking assembly in order to suspend the firearm in a loaded position within the locking assembly.
Third, for carrying the gun locked in the assembly, while still being able to remove it quickly from the assembly, the present invention provides a locking pin which has a compressible ball bearing at one end and a finger ring at the other.
Fourth, the present invention provides an enclosing holster to protect the firearm against environmental influences.
Fifth, the present invention provides several slots in the body plate in order to accommodate belts of different widths.
Finally, a spacer is interposed between the body plate and the locking assembly to facilitate mounting the enclosing holster and to enable carrying large firearms comfortably.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals represent like parts.